Credit card holders are reluctant to use the cash advance service due to the high interest rates and alternative loan services, central bank data revealed on Monday.

In the January-August period this year, the number of cash advance transactions by noncorporate credit card users stood at 66.5 million, down 8.5 percent from last year.

Cash advance service, a type of card loan that allows cardholders to withdraw quick-and-easy cash from an ATM and pay back later, is now losing steam due to its high interest rate -- mostly higher than credit card itself -- and the immediate accruement of interest, officials said.

Analysts said the wealthy cardholders are now turning to card loans, which offers cash service at lower interest than cash advance, while those from the lower economic brackets prefer borrowing from second-tier savings banks and private lenders for easier borrowing qualifications.